Blade sharpener



July 31, 1934. L. s. COPELAND ET.AL 1,968,748 I BLADE SHARPENER Filed May 6, 1932 Patented July 31, 1934 PATENT OFFICE V 1,968,748 BLADE SHARPENER Lewis S. Copeland, John W. Rather. and Earl E. Schoonover, Columbus, Ohio Application May 6, 1932, Serial No. 609,718

1 Claim.

the blade by pressure exerted thereon.

It is a further object to provide a blade sharpener'of few readily accessible parts which is easily operated, and which can be economically manufactured. v

The invention further contemplates the provision of a sharpener embodying the use of strap, the activesurface of. which will not become glazed andhardened by use.

Other and further purposes andadvantages of the invention will become apparent as the description proceeds. V

In the drawing:--

Figure 1 is a perspective view of the blade sharpener;

Fig. 2 is a longitudinal sectional view showing the parts in section;

Fig. 3 is a view of the roller showing the shaft partially removed therefrom;

Fig. 4 is a detail view of the blade holder.

Referring to Figure 1, the sharpener frame 1 has the side walls 2 providedwith aligned openings 3 for receiving the shaft 4 on which is mounted the strap carrying roller 5 mounted in the frame 1 for rotation in either direction. The side walls 2 of the frame 1 are provided with a second pair of aligned openings 6.

The openings 6 and the openings 3 are all in a plane parallel to the base of the frame 1. Within the openings 6 there is mounted a spring steel shaft '1 carrying the spring clamp blade holder 8. It will thus be seen that the axis of the blade holder shaft 1 and the axis of the roller supporting shaft 4 are in the same plane and equidistant from the base of the sharpener.

The roller 5 which may be made of aluminum, is provided with a longitudinally extending recess 9 which performs a double function, as will hereinafter appear. The roller has preferably 'adhesively secured thereto a cushion belt 10 of felt or the like. The endless leather strap 11 has a normal face 12 while the opposite side or face 13 thereof is treated in such manner as to constitute the same a honing surface. The arrangement is such that the strap 11 is reversible to present two faces for use; one an ordinary strapping face and the other a honing face. The cushion belt 10 permits the strap to flex in use and prevents the surface thereof from becoming glazed and ineffective.

The roller 5 is provided centrally of the recessed portion 9 with a threaded opening 14 for receiving the screw 15. The endless strap 11 also has a hole therein which is adapted to be brought into registry with the opening 14 in the roller 5. A clamping plate 16 fits into the recess 9 and is clamped against the endless strap 11 by the screw 15. In this way the strap is tensioned and held in position. This is one of the functions of the recess9.

The screw 15 not only acts to clamp the plate 16 in position but also holds the roller 5 and the shaft 4 in assembled relation with the frame 1.

It will be noted that the shaft 4 which passes through the roller 5 and the openings 3 in the side walls 2 is provided centrally with a flat surface 17.

The inner end of screw 15 coacts with the surface 1'! to hold the roller 5 and shaft 4 against relative longitudinal displacement and to cause the roller 5 to be turned through the shaft 4 which is provided with a suitable crank handle 18 for that purpose. Bushing members 19 are carried by the shaft 4 at either end of the roller 5 to suitably space the ends thereof from the side walls 2.

Returning to the blade holder 8, the body thereof comprises the spring clamp 20, which is adapted to be opened by compressing the conventional eX- tension members 21. On the inside of the back of the clamp there is provided a protecting cushion strip 22 of soft rubber, felt or the like, to prevent dulling the inactive edge of a two edged blade when being sharpened. At one end of each of the jaws 23 of the blade holder 8 there is provided 5- an extending arm 24. The arms 24 are of such length that they will project beyond the free edge of a razor blade when held in the blade holder.

It will now be observed that the cushion belt 10 and strap 11 carried by roller 5 have one end terminating short of the end of the roller to provide a narrow contact surface 25 constituting a path for the arms 24.

The blade holder 8 is secured to the spring steel shaft '7 preferably by brazing or soldering at a central point in the length of the shaft. This constitutes a somewhat flexible mounting for the blade holder.

The shaft '7 is provided near one end with an arm26 extending from the shaft at right angles with the blade holder 8. The arm 26 is adapted to move in an are close to the inner side of one of the walls 2. A spring 27 is secured at one end to the arm 26 and has its opposite end anchored in a hole 28 in the frame 1. The manner of positioning the spring 27 is as follows: The roller 5 is turned until the recess 9 is facing toward the shaft '7, the blade holder 8"is then brought into the plane in which shafts 4 and 7 lie, the arm 28 then extends directly below the shaft '7. With the parts in this position the spring 27 is put in place. The hole 28 is also directly below the shaft '7 so that the spring 27 and the arm 26 lie in a straight line when the blade holder 8 lies in the plane of the shafts 4 and '7. It will thus be apparent that the spring 27 has a tendency to urge the blade holder 8 toward the roller 5 regardless of whether the blade holder extends upwardly or downwardly from the shaft 7.

The operation of the sharpener is as follows: A blade is placed in the blade holder 8 and the roller 5 rotated in either direction. If roller 5 moves in a clockwise direction the blade holder extends to ward the roller 5 above the plane of the shafts 4 and '7. When the edge of the blade passes over the shoulder of the recess 9, it is held out of contact with the strap by the action of the extension arms 24 riding on path 25, since these arms do not clear the recess shoulder until the blade edge is wholly out of engagement with the strap. When the ends of arms 24 clear the shoulder of recess 9 at the end of path 25, the spring 27 acts to bring the blade holder 8 into the plane of shafts 4 and '7. If roller 5 continues in a clockwise direction the blade holder is picked up by the opposite shoulder of recess 9 and the blade brought into contact with the-strap 11 for the next rotation of roller 5.

If on the contrary the roller is next moved in an anti-clockwise direction, the blade holder is moved through cooperation of arms 24 to a position below the plane of shafts 4 and 7 and the opposite side of the blade edge brought into contact with the strap 11.

From the foregoing it will be seen that a blade can be expeditiously strapped with the single reversible roller.

If it is desired to hone a set of blades, the strap 11 can be removed from the roller 5 and reversed to present the honing surface 13 for use. It is also obvious that a worn strap can be readily replaced.

Having thus described our invention, what we claim is:-

A razor blade sharpener comprising a frame having elongated bottom and side walls leaving the top and ends of the frame open, a shaft journaled in each side wall adjacent its top edge, a longitudinally recessed roller positioned on the shaft and projecting well above the top edges of the side walls, a strap of less width than the length of said roller arranged on the periphery of the roller to leave a portion of the roller surface exposed, a single means for fastening the strap and the roller in place, a second shaft, having a crank arm, journaled in each side wall adjacent its top edge to be arranged parallel to the first shaft, a blade holder fastened to the second shaft to project at right angles to the plane of the crank arm, an extension on the blade holder adapted to project beyond the free edge of a blade held in said holder and to ride upon the exposed surface of the roller, and a spring connected to the crank arm and to one side wall of the frame directly below the axis of the second shaft so as to constantly urge the blade holder toward the axis of the roller.

LEWIS S. COPELAND. JOHN W. RETHER. EARL E. SCHOONOVER. 

